Cook Children's doctors in Fort Worth connect with Abilene

Registered Nurse Sara Wilcox, center, uses a stethoscope to examine Derek Duclos' heart while Dr. W. Paul Bowman, right, can hear what she hears because of a machine transmitting video, audio and medical data to his office in Fort Worth.

Derek Duclos, 8, giggled as he watched the inside of his ear live on a TV screen.

Derek, of Sweetwater, helped staff members of the Cook Children's Abilene Specialty Clinic demonstrate how telemedicine works during the clinic's open house Tuesday.

The telemedicine unit, which helps Cook Children's doctors in Fort Worth examine a patient in Abilene electronically, means Derek and his family can avoid weekly trips to Fort Worth for routine appointments with an hematologist-oncologist.

''It's a great thing being here because we're saving so much time and energy,'' said his mother, Margarita Duclos. ''Instead of three hours, it's only a 45-minute drive to here.''

Although the clinic has had telemedicine for three years, the staff is trying to spread the word about its resources to other doctors, said Sara Wilcox, the clinic coordinator.

''We just wanted to make everyone aware that this technology is here and it's a possible way to see specialists faster,'' she said. ''We don't really advertise it.''

Wilcox said that in three years, the clinic has had 114 telemedicine appointments.

''It won't replace placing hands on a patient, but for regular visits, we can get the same effect with telemedicine,'' said Dr. Kenneth Heym, a Cook Children's doctor in Fort Worth.

Dr. Greg Tuegel, a self-proclaimed ''old-fashioned doctor,'' was one of the Abilene pediatricians present at the open house.

''When you see pediatric patients, you play with them, you poke them, and you tickle them - that's how you get information,'' he said. The idea of examining patients through TV screens and gizmos did not excite him at first, he said.

''I'm much more impressed with it now. I've heard of the concept and have patients who have used it, but I haven't seen it myself before,'' he said. ''I think it will be very useful for both physicians and families. Anything that makes care quicker and less time consuming helps with better care.''

The open house was an introduction to a new pediatric nephrologist and followed the clinic's move in May to an office on Ambler Avenue, Wilcox said.

The clinic's pediatric specialists services will not compete with Meek Children's Hospital in Abilene, which offers more generalized pediatricians, she said.